Investment banks are looking to hire in the real estate sector after more than five years of hunkering down, as investors put money to work in the asset class across equity and debt.

Almost $30 billion of equity has been raised in Europe, Middle East and Africa by real estate companies since the start of 2013, according to Dealogic, while the debt markets have also been booming.

David Church, vice-chairman of Emea real estate, gaming and lodging at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said: “We’ve got deeper capital markets than ever before, and also a wider pool of investors looking to access real estate as a secure income stream.”

Fees paid to investment banks total $269 million for the year to May 7, the highest level since 2007 and up almost a quarter from the same period a year ago.

That has led several investment banks to consider rebuilding or adding to their teams in the sector.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently named a new head of Emea commercial real estate origination and Citigroup is looking again at the sector, having pulled back following the financial crisis.

One senior sector banker said: “I do see a lot of banks looking to hire people for real estate. I think, in general, banks have been under-invested in real estate investment banking over the last five to six years, and I do see them trying to catch up.”

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The speed of the rebound in activity has surprised some, with assets in the EU periphery now at the centre of fevered bidding wars as US private equity firms in particular look to take advantage of a stabilisation of Europe’s battered economies.

The increased interest of private equity firms extends to spending on secondhand stakes in real estate funds, with some of the world’s biggest investors gearing up to raise billions of dollars for such deals.

At least eight firms are looking to raise dedicated real estate secondaries funds in the coming months, with a combined value of more than $3.7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter and data provider Preqin. This is more than the $3.6 billion raised since the beginning of 2008.

These include Blackstone’s Strategic Partners Fund Solutions, which plans to launch a dedicated real estate secondaries fund. Carlyle’s Metropolitan Real Estate is in the market with a $500 million real estate secondaries and co-investment fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Morgan Stanley has also just launched a $500 million follow-on offering to its $370 million, 2009 vintage Morgan Stanley AIPPhoenix Global Real Estate Secondaries fund, and is aiming for a first close in June, according to a person familiar with the matter.